Kate Middleton conspiracies, the city begging people to stay away, and putting a price tag on air
These are the best things I found on the internet this week!
What’s up party people,
Now that the Oscars are behind us, we’re going to settle into a more regular rhythm of newsletters — Tuesdays and Fridays. This weekly edition I call my “conversation starters,” the best, most interesting and most entertaining content on the internet in the past week. My hope is to improve your media diet, and give you a seven-day supply of “hey did you hear about ___” topics to share around the metaphorical (or literal!) water cooler. Enjoy!
What’s the coolest story or thing you found on the internet this week? Reply to this email and shoot me a link. Would love to hear from you!
Last week was a big one for me in my day job reporting for Forbes. After joining the Hollywood/entertainment beat at the beginning of the year, my two stories before the Oscars were like my official coming out party.
First, I published a list of the 10 Highest Paid Actors In Hollywood For 2023, which comes with a story about how even though everyone was talking about Barbenheimer, 500 million hours (!!) worth of people were still rewatching Adam Sandler movies on Netflix.
The list got aggregated out to a million different TikToks, tweets and posts, and also got talked about on The Today Show. Which was pretty cool!
Second, I wrote about how Christopher Nolan is now the most powerful creative in Hollywood. After breaking up with Warner Bros., Nolan bet on himself, and Oppenheimer paid off with a shelf full of Oscars and a payday to the tune of $72 million.
If you’re getting stopped by the paywall but want to read either of those, reply to this email. Or for those who prefer me talking through the stories, I went on Forbes Talks on YouTube to discuss the Oscars and my two stories.
Ok, enough self promo! Goodness…
Our Long Read of the Week is from The New Republic, and it’s about the hottest new luxury item for rich people — air. Specifically, air filtration systems in multi-million dollar apartment buildings, which demonstrate how the wealthy class will shield themselves from the adverse affects of climate change (which they disproportionately impact).
You Can’t Script Sports: a musher in the Iditarod race was given a two-hour penalty on his time because when he killed a moose that was attacking his team of dogs (totally legal), he did not properly gut it (illegal).
Have you fallen down this Kate Middleton conspiracy rabbit hole yet? The Princess of Wales is MIA, and every public attempt to assure us everything is fine has only further fueled the mystery.
Headlines That Require No Context: Hamptons mansion selling for $38 million has one big catch: You can't live in it.
If you’re still not fully grasping the power of internet creators, allow me to present the case study of Fisker. Popular technology review YouTuber Marques Brownlee said the Fisker electronic SUV was “the worst car I’ve ever reviewed.” The video went viral, Fisker tried to do damage control, which made things worse, and then last week the company announced it may not have enough money to survive the year. Now that’s power.
Miami Beach made an anti-tourism commercial to discourage rowdy college kids from visiting for Spring Break. Think about that for a second. Will curfews, drug checkpoints, and $100 parking be enough to stop the madness?
Thanks for reading and sharing! On Friday I’ll be back to talk movies, leftover Oscars tidbits and more!